Collapsible playyards have become popular on the market in recent years, owing to the ease with which they can be folded into a very compact shape for storage and carrying, and then unfolded to provide an area in which an infant or toddler can safely play without straying off.
Examples of such playyards are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,437 to DILLNER et al. As shown in that patent, playyards of this type include a collapsible frame structure surrounded by a fabric enclosure.
More particularly, FIGS. 5 and 7 of the DILLNER et al. patent show the top rail structure and a release mechanism for collapsing the top rails, so that the playyard can be folded for storage or carrying. In this embodiment, a one-handed operation is effective to collapse the top rail structure, by grasping each medial rail connecting member 110 and squeezing the latch release mechanism 144 upwardly.
Although this is a convenient mechanism for collapsing the top rails, there is also the danger that it could be inadvertently actuated by a toddler playing in the playyard. This is particularly true, given that toddlers frequently stand up in the playyard while grasping the rails of the top rail structure.
Accordingly, FIGS. 13-23 of DILLNER et al. describe alternative embodiments in which, to collapse the top rail structure, it is necessary to rotate the medial rail connecting member and its associated pair of rail members 180.degree., from the position shown in FIG. 13 to the position shown in FIG. 14. To free this assembly for the 180.degree. rotation about the axis of the tubes, the DILLNER et al. patent describes a pair of oppositely sprung collars at the opposite ends of the tube pair, which must be simultaneously grasped and slid toward each other against the action of a pair of springs. With the user's hands in this position, the top tube assembly is rotated 180.degree. about the axis of the tubes, and thereafter collapsed.
These alternative embodiments therefore provide a two-handed operation for collapsing the top rail structure, which apparently could not be inadvertently performed by a toddler occupying the playyard.
It will be appreciated, however, that because DILLNER et al. provides sprung collars which surround the tubes of the top frame structure, it is necessary to provide two such collars, one at each end of each top rail pair, or else this release mechanism could also be inadvertently actuated by an occupant of the playyard.
Moreover, the structure of these alternative release mechanisms for the top rail structure are believed to be quite awkward to manipulate, even for adults. This is because the adult must rotate the medial connecting member/tube pair assembly 180.degree., at the same time that his hands are spread quite far apart (particularly in the case of the longer pair of top rails) and grasping the oppositely sprung collars and pushing them against the action of their associated springs.